1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or electrostatic recording machine for recording an image or a recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
In the conventional image recording apparatus of this type, an original image is recorded over an entire area of a recording medium.
As a result, where a recording medium having information printed on a portion thereof is to be used, the image is recorded in the information recorded area unless an image copy area is specified to avoid the information recorded area, and the information in the overlapped information area is hard to recognized If images are continuously recorded without knowing if the recorded image is overlapped, a large number of inaccessible records are prepared.
For example, in a conventional transfer type electrophotographic copying machine which uses a micro-film an entire area of an image on the micro-film is copied on a recording medium such as a sheet.
FIG. 1(A) shows an image on a micro-film and FIG. 1(B) shows an image copied onto a transfer sheet. In FIG. 1(A), a positive (or negative) image in a frame f has been recorded on the micro-film F. Where a periphery of the frame f is positive, it is black (where it is negative, light transmits through the periphery.) In copying the image on the micro-film F to the transfer sheet, an entire area of a copy area G of the micro-film is copied to the transfer sheet P as shown in FIG. 1(B).
However, in the above image recording apparatus, where partially printed transfer sheets are stacked in a paper cassette, and if a to-be-copied image area of the micro-film preset by copy area setting means and the printed area on the recording medium overlap, a portion of the image of the micro-film corresponding to the overlapped area is not copied to the recording medium, or the image in the overlapped area cannot be recognized. The operator may not be aware of such overlapped copying.